8th Dimension Comic Shop, Once a Fantasy, Becomes 3-Dimensional

As soon as you enter 8th Dimension Comics & Games, the happiest person in the entire world greets you. That's Jeremy Bulloch, the store's president and co-owner, and why shouldn't he be ecstatic? He is living his dream. After working in comic book shops for nearly a decade, Bulloch and his wife, along with a good friend, decided to go out on their own and open 8th Dimension. "8th Dimension is the comic shop that we had always wanted to go to, but could never find," says Bulloch.

The store, which opened recently, is located along the ever-growing Highway 6 North in a nondescript strip mall, but that doesn't stop the comic fans from finding it. Art Attack stopped by on a Wednesday when all the new comics come in and found the place bustling with superhero-shirted shoppers in for their weekly fix. 8th Dimension has a special order policy that when you pre-order your mags, they hold them for you until you can come in, plus you get a 10 percent discount. Sort of like a co-op, but for comics.

In addition to the throngs of comic books and graphic novels, 8th Dimension has plenty of eye candy in the form of zombie plush dolls, Star Wars figurines, all of the Dr. Who you could ask for and much more (we even saw an old-school figure of Janine from the Ghostbusters cartoon; we totally almost made off with it).

Bulloch says he wanted the shop to have a little something for everyone and there is even a comic section for the kiddies. Gaming is another big aspect of 8th Dimension, and to the far end of the store is a collection of board, card and role-playing games. They have an open game room for patrons to take over whenever they feel compelled. On Sunday nights, the store hosts an organized D&D game that has gotten so big they had to divide players up into three sections.

Bulloch also thinks that Hollywood's heavy attention to the comics genre could help the industry a ton. "Comics are awesome. If Hollywood is bringing attention to them, more people will know how wonderful they are," a cheery Bulloch told us.

Whether geek chic stays in the mainstream or not, it won't stop the camaraderie felt within the comic society and that is the community that 8th Dimension hopes to encourage -- good people, a great selection of comics and lots of Polyhedral dice.

8th Dimension Comics & Games is located at 8475-C2 Highway 6 North. www.8thdimensioncomics.com